New translations of the US-based Episcopal Church’s 1979 Book of Common Prayer are being prepared in Spanish, French and Creole. The announcement was made by Dr Juan Oliver, the Church’s Custodian of the BCP. “For some time now, the Church has been aware of the need for new translations, carried out by professional literary translators of proven ability,” he said.

At its triennial General Convention last year, the Church mandated and budgeted for a Task Force for Liturgical Translations, a subcommittee of the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music of The Episcopal Church. In January, the task force met to review plans for hiring professional translators who will prepare a first draft over the next year and a half. These drafts will be sent for feedback to congregations worshipping in the target languages, in the US and abroad. The translation project is expected to be completed during the current triennium.

The Church recently promoted the project in a bid to encourage qualified translators to apply. “Applicants must be native speakers of either French, Haitian Creole (Kreyol) or Spanish, bilingual in English and experienced in literary translation, including poetic prose”, TEC’s Public Affairs office said in a statement. “Additional desirable, but not necessary, qualifications are experience with liturgical, biblical or theological vocabularies, as well as some knowledge of music.”